The Bracken Woods when i think back on all the crap i learned in high school

AW but tagging my dear @Korei Julia

Stay still. You move your tail too much.

"Shut up, Dottie," she whispered, breath stirring the dirt beneath her muzzle.

You're the one that needs to shut up. Every bit of prey for a mile is going to hear you.

Lily growled softly, muscles twitching as she watched the rabbit root around the base of the tree. The darkness of the Bracken Woods was to her advantage; her inky pelt blended in, if she stayed in the shadows, and by the time she pounced, it would be too late.

But maybe Dottie was right--maybe she was too loud. She drew in a snuffling breath, which unexpectedly echoed through the forest, and she saw the rabbit's ears perk up, its beady eyes wide in alarm. Silently cursing herself, she went still as a statue, waiting for another few long, agonizing moments for the creature to settle down.

It never really did, and Lily grew impatient. With a fleeting prayer to no god in particular, she pounced, her lithe form a dark blur. But the rabbit, on guard, had anticipated this attack, and fled, and although Lily gave a hearty chase, her clumsy paws were no match for its swiftness.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, as the dusky animal burrowed back underground, and she was left with nothing to show for her efforts.

Be quiet!

"Shut up, Dottie!" Lily chided her sister's voice, which rang mockingly through her head every time she tried to hunt. It was as if she'd never left the prairie.

Korei went out when she caught the scent of her friend in the group, Lily. Her fellow stargazer. She trotted along to find her, but she flinched when she heard her shout at someone named... Dottie? "Uh, Lily? Something wrong?" Did she come at a bad time? She looked about and...then she found it odd to see no one else about.

A voice disturbed her from her tantrum, and Lily spun around, a reluctant smile coming to her face as she spotted Korei a few paces away. "Erm, hi, Korei," she greeted, shuffling her paws. Shaking out her pelt, she trotted over to give her friend a friendly nudge to the shoulder, if she'd allow it, then stepped back, scowling once more.

"I just am terrible at hunting! No matter what I try, I can't catch anything," she lamented, shaking her head. "My sister Dottie tried to teach me, a couple times, but I'm just rubbish. None of her lessons ever helped."

She heaved a ragged sigh. "What sort of wolf can't hunt? I feel quite useless, honestly." Thus having vented, she sat back on her haunches, blowing out a long stream of air. In, out, she coached herself, slowly calming down. In, out.

"How are you?" Lily asked nonchalantly, wanting quite suddenly to change the subject.

Korei Julia accepted the friendly nudge, tail wagging behind her. Then Lily poured her heart out, Korei hadn't even realized that she was trying to hunt. Lily mentioned the name again, Dottie. "You said her name like you were talking to her" she said. Then as soon as Lily said how she felt useless, Korei shook her head.

"No, not useless at all. What if I tried to help, that a good idea?" she asked, putting on that adorable little smile she usually had.

"She gave me so many lectures, sometimes I feel like I hear her, in my head, barking orders at me. You know?" Lily asked Korei, tilting her head interrogatively. "Everything I do, I swear I hear her judging me." Even now, her slightly shrill voice was a tiny whisper in her ears; Lily flattened them for a moment, then they sprang aloft as she brightened at her friend's suggestion.

"That's an excellent idea, Korei!" she exclaimed, doing a little sort of dance in place, wagging her tail in excitement. She gave the girl a keen look, eager for her first lesson. "How do you want to start?" She was completely clueless how one gave a lesson on hunting, besides standing by and nagging, as Dottie had done. Lily had always felt bad for her sister's future children.

She inhaled deeply, trying to figure out whether she'd scared off all the game or if there was still a chance for them to go home with something in their jaws. There were scents here and there, but nothing strong; maybe Korei was better at sniffing out prospects.

Korei Julia slowly shook her head. She had never ever heard of anything such as that. Hearing voices in one's head, voices from the past. Sure she thought back on them time to time but not hear them. "I...don't know, sorry" she murmured quietly back.

Korei smiled lightly, her wagging continuing and getting more intense. "Well, if I remember anything, we have to find a scent. Like, a rabbit or a...no, beavers aren't near here are they?" Those were the only things that she had really hunted.

Lily got the distinct impression that Korei thought she was a bit of a nutter, hearing voices in her head, but she let it slide, not wanting to explain further. Instead, she seized upon the opportunity for a lesson, listening intently to what Korei had to say next.

"I was hunting rabbits earlier; there's a den over there," she responded, gesturing toward the hole with her nose. "As for beavers. . .don't those live near water? They build their homes on rivers, I'm pretty sure." She didn't know if she'd ever seen a beaver before. Daddy's tales had conjured up images of burly brown creatures with flat tails; he was such a vivid storyteller that he often blurred the lines between reality and fantasy, in her mind.

"I'm fast enough to catch them, but I'm too loud," Lily lamented, looking back at Korei again. "Can you teach me how to be sneaky?" She eyed her friend curiously. She wondered how Korei was able to sneak about in here with that pelt of snow. Surely she'd stick out like a songbird in a barren tree?

Korei turned her attention towards where Lily gestured to, about the rabbit's den. She nodded to the thing about beavers. "They are mean and scary with those big teeth." Even though she had been told they were relatively harmless. 

Korei gave a moment of silence...then a nervous giggle. She was not one to be quiet. Korei tended to be loud...a lot. "I..I can try, but I'm not quiet. I had help from others who are." But she was willing to still try for her friend.

"Oh, okay," Lily responded, a bit put out. If Korei wasn't the best teacher for this, then who would be? She thought about approaching Alarian, but she didn't want to look like an idiot in front of him, not more than she already had. Perhaps Lanawyn would be a good, non-judgmental tutor. Though she hadn't seen much of the woman, lately. . .

"Well, what have you learned?" she whispered, crouching low to the ground. She knew their volume was too loud, if they ever wanted these rabbits to emerge from their hiding places. Their aromatic smell wafted towards her, teasing her nostrils with how bloody close they were. A stroke of good luck, and one big pounce, and she'd have the creature in her jaws.

Lily responded, and Korei glanced away after the response. Another question was thrown to Korei, and she caught it with a light smile. "I know to sneak up and keep quiet. And that more than one hunter is best." They could perhaps ambush it. Lead it into a trap, use brain over brawn and speed. "And to have patience" she quickly added. Then an idea sprung up. "I got it! What if one of us circles around, behind it's home? That way if it comes out and runs, one of us can block it?"

"Excellent," Lily responded, grinning. She didn't know much about hunting tactics, but that plan seemed sensible enough. "Can you sneak up behind it, so I can watch and learn?" she asked, tilting her head in polite inquiry. She might be loud, but she was fast. . .perhaps fast enough to catch the critter before it got away for good.

Patience was not her strong suit; it never had been and it never would be. But if she wanted to eat, patience was something she'd have to learn to acquire, at least in some small measure. She looked forward to Bracken's first big hunt. She'd heard whispers here and there about the pack banding together to take down big game, but no specific plans had been made as of yet.

Korei smiled and nodded. Although she was nervous that she would fail at doing this. She got down low, and glanced to Lily before she would start moving, "Just stay here till you see it, okay?" Korei just had to hope she would be able to sneak around in time behind the rabbit's hole.

Lily smiled and gave a nod in response, crouching low as she waited for Korei to sneak up behind the den. She raked the earth with her claws, black pads outstretched. Her stomach rumbled slightly audibly, and she frowned, gritting her teeth.

God forbid my angry, empty belly gives me away.

She kept her eyes locked on the entrance to the rabbit hole, anticipating the moment of truth.

Korei Julia reached around the back of the rabbit hole, her tail swaying gently right behind her. She waited for a bit, eventually she heard a soft thump. The rabbit had come out, and she caught sight of the small creature. She hoped that Liliy would see it too, and braced to move at a moment's notice to block it's escape.

rolled a success in Discord

There it was. Small and timid, its little nose wrinkled as it tried to ascertain the threats that lay around it. Swallowing, Lily drew up her hindquarters and prepared for the moment of truth. Gritting her teeth, she pounced, a black shadow from the brush, landing just short of the rabbit.

It squealed, and meant to flee, but this time, she was too quick. Her forepaws grasped its back end and she drew it back towards her, wrapping her jaws around its neck. Just a crunch!--and the creature lay limp and dead on the ground, spine severed by her teeth.

"Oh, my god! I did it!" Lily exclaimed, heedless of the noise that probably scared the other rabbits in the area away. She licked the blood from her chops, bounding toward Korei. "I actually managed to catch something!" Her tail wagged excitedly, and she nuzzled her friend's shoulder, gratitude swelling up in her heart.

"Thank you so, so much, Korei," she purred, grinning from ear to ear. "You've done it. You've taught me to hunt."

Korei heard something, and the next second Lily was out. Korei jumped out from hiding to get in front of the hole...but it seemed that she had no reason to. Lily was quick, and Korei found herself stunned by just how quickly it had gone. She squealed with delight, bouncing about on her paws happily. 

"You did it! You did it!" she shouted with Lily, almost like a chant. And Lily knew how to hunt now. "See, patience! Patience was the key, wasn't it?!" She felt so happy that Lily had managed this so quick.

The two girls squealed together as young, giddy women should--not to stereotype or anything--excitedly bumping against each other. Finally, Lily calmed down, bending her head to nose the rabbit she'd just killed. In a way, she felt kind of bad--like, she'd never really killed anything herself before, and she felt somewhat responsible for taking a life, even if it was just a little rabbit.

Then again, she ate all the time things that others had killed. . .so it would kind of make her a hypocrite to turn her nose up at meat now.

"Let's take this to the cache," Lily decided, picking the animal up between her jaws. "Thaah agehh, Koeeei," she mumbled through a mouthful of meat, hoping the girl would take her meaning through at least the grateful look she shot her. She began to stride purposefully in the direction of the cache, filled with pride and a newfound confidence.

Finally, she was a hunter. Of sorts.

Korei Julia smiled back to Lily, her friend that she had done a good thing for. That she had taught to hunt. She nodded, she was so very happy that she had helped her friend by teaching her this. "Yeah, let's go!" the girl said back to Lily before going off with Lily, following her all the way to the cache as Lily carried the catch over to the cache. 

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